Kansas lawmakers support sports betting

The recent Governor-elect Laura Kelly has pledged her support for allowing legalised sports betting in the state. There is no draft proposal in the fray during the upcoming session of the state, scheduled on January 14. Still, the topic is expected to be discussed. Senator Bud Estes, chairman of the committee that will be in charge of reviewing bills on the topic, said that sports betting will probably happen in some form, and encouraged lawmakers to participate in a special interim committee session on the topic on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“We need to be educated. I’m not going to let my committee go out and pass a lot of legislation right out of the bag. We need to be smarter before we do it,” said Estes.

“It will generate more excitement and interest in sports, which I think will drive more traffic into these social settings,” he said and added that it will also generate more revenue and jobs. “There are a lot of different opportunities there.” commented Representative Jan Kessinger.